Monday, October 3, 2016

How Would Trump and Hillary Govern?

The president that each one would be is determined by what they believe the office means.

What kind of president would Donald Trump make? What kind of president would Hillary Clinton make? Those questions weren’t answered definitely during the first presidential debate, mainly because Hillary Clinton spent most of the debate trotting out old talking points while feeding Trump enough rope to hang himself from a gibbet of his own construction.

But we have one basic indicator: what they think of the office itself.

Every presidential candidate has a picture of what the presidency represents. Bill Clinton thought the presidency was JFK’s Camelot: an image-first, good-time position designed to give Americans a feeling of hope and fun. Bill Clinton saw the presidency as a piece of performance art; he wrote in his autobiography, “I decided I wanted to be in public life as an elected official. I loved music and thought I could be very good, but I knew I would never be John Coltrane or Stan Getz. I was interested in medicine and thought I could be a fine doctor, but I knew I would never be Michael DeBakey. But I knew I could be great in public service.” The presidency was all simply an expression of personal ambition for Clinton, and he treated it that way.

George W. Bush thought the presidency was a paternal office, a model for dignified governance. That’s why he saw the Clinton presidency as a blot after his father’s staid White House stint, and pledged to “restore honor and dignity” to the office. To that end, he wanted his presidency to demonstrate “compassion” as well as a stoic self-possession.

Barack Obama thought the presidential office was created to provide Americans with a moral guide. While half-heartedly decrying his own role as “moral arbiter,” Obama refers continuously to the arc of history, the requirements of acting morally in accordance with “who we are.” He sees himself as a guiding voice in shaping a new, progressive values system, in creating new human beings.